I haven't picked up a needle in several weeks. I have been busy or should say, focused on doing a massive purge of my sewing inventory. As of June 12th, eight very large totes have been filled and the contents donated. I am going through my sewing inventory item by item. Found some items I forgot I had.
When I moved into my current apartment my sewing inventory had been packed by the movers. I did unpack everything and set up my sewing room. However, I've come to realize that this sewing room will never be like what I had in a former rental with open space and mobility. When I work in my current sewing space, I feel claustrophobic, cramped and unable to move around like I want to. I have tried different furniture arrangements to no avail. This is my last sewing room. No more.
I am not getting younger. I don't need everything I have amassed with my sewing. Realistically I won't be doing all the projects I would like to do. I don't have the time (as in I am getting older), interest or desire. My interests have evolved and changed.
In doing the clean out or brutal purge, I set some parameters on what I was going to keep due to what I wanted to spend my time working on. Three areas only. Cross stitch. Quilting. 18" doll clothes. While sorting my inventory and letting go of things, I asked myself, "Will this contribute to those three areas?" If not, it is being donated. If yes, I then asked myself, "Is this item really a keeper? Do I really want this item and keep it or is it time to donate it?"
My neighbor has been a God send in that he has supplied heavy duty totes with lids and as I fill them with whatever I am donating, he then removes the tote and brings new ones to fill up again. I know the items will be used by other craft enthusiasts. His offering to help with lifting has been so appreciated.
The end goal of all this is a more open workable, walk around space in my sewing room. A room where I want to spend time in there creating and doing what I enjoy - working with needle and thread.
Health wise, I take each day as it comes. I have good days. I have not so good days. I have fibromyalgia and diabetes. Prior to getting covid and pneumonia in both lungs November 2023, I was recovering from exposure to black mold due to conditions in my last rental.
In February 2025, after being prescribed a new medication, I ended up in the local ER. I had taken the prescribed dose, gotten up in the night to go to the bathroom and awoke to find myself laying on the floor in front of my cat's litter box in a pool of vomit, vomiting two more times. I had passed out, hit my head and been unconscious for 30 minutes. My head hurt and after getting up off the floor I felt a lump on the back of my head. Managed to get back to bed and fell back to sleep. Later in the morning while discussing what happened with the nurse I shared that my head really hurt and when I drew back my hand after touching the area that was painful, I saw my hand was covered in blood. I drove myself to the ER. Xrays and other tests revealed nothing broken. I did have to have metal sutures put in as the head laceration was deep. As it healed, the itching was intense.
As I shared earlier, I haven't done work with needle and thread for quite sometime. Haven't been motivated to. I have worked on jigsaw puzzles with Tiggy snoozing nearby keeping me company. Bought a new puzzle table to use when doing my puzzles. Stepped away for bit and Tiggy jumped on it. The table tilted and five days worth of puzzling landed in a heap on the floor. Tiggy just sat there in disbelief or maybe it was shock. I cried. I carefully picked everything back up and managed to have everything back to together by day's end. Was missing two edge pieces but found them later after saying a short "help me find them, Lord" prayer. They were still attached together in spite of having flown across the room. Prayer, in whatever format, no matter the length, works.
I have not done a whole lot with my blog. There's been a shift in my heart regarding my blog. Again, lack of interest or desire and little motivation to spend time on it. I have started to entertain the idea that perhaps it is time to turn the page, end the chapter and close the book. As my current cross stitch project, Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, "A time for...and a time for...". I started blogging around the time of 2011 or so. I started with sharing my sewing 18" doll clothes. So much life has happened since then. A divorce in 2012, my dad's death in 2013 then my mom's death in 2021, several moves or relocations, health issues...as scripture states "A time for..."
Having just said that, my blogging journey has been a enjoyable one in that I've met some very beautiful people. Kathi from California, Marilyn from Utah, Sandi from Ohio, Abbie from Ohio, Robin from Virginia and Clara from Maryland. I have learned alot about needle and thread (hand stitched and machine sewn) and have grown and been challenged with my work.
I end this post by saying I am not sure what is in the future, but I know who holds my future and I trust Him. Explicitly. No questions. Praising Him for wonderful memories as a result of my blogging endeavors.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Abbie Jean and beloved fur buddy, Tiggy.
